Arianespace and Eutelsat have confirmed that Eutelsat 10B, a high-throughput telecommunications satellite, will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket (probably the ECA variant) in 2022. Eutelsat 10B is a telecommunications satellite to be positioned at the 10° East orbital position, offering services from the Americas to Asia. Built by Thales Alenia Space and based on its Spacebus NEO all-electric platform, it will embark Ku- and C-band payloads to ensure service continuity for existing customers on Eutelsat 10A, while supporting the development of the Eutelsat Group’s activities in mobile connectivity thanks to two incremental multi-beam HTS Ku-band payloads.
Ariane 5 ECA launches on flight VA252. Courtesy: Arianespace
Comment by David Todd: Yes…but what is happening to the planned Ariane 6 dual launch of Eutelsat’s Hotbird 13F and 13G satellites. Now that the maiden flight of that Ariane 6 will not now be until Q2 2022 at the earliest, and hence the rest of the Ariane 6 launch schedule – including a planned flight of the pair – will now be delayed, the word on the street is that the pair will now be split and will fly on different launch vehicles in 2021-2022 period. One of those could be an Ariane 5.
